Crain’s Chicago Business
April 10 2009

Hastert to lobby for Turkey

By: Paul Merrion April 10, 2009

(Crain’s) ‘ Former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, R-Plano, is
now lobbying for the Republic of Turkey, according to papers filed
last week with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration
Act unit.

His role is `educating members of the Congress and the administration
on issues of importance to Turkey,’ his registration statement
said. Those issues include `trade, energy security, counter-terrorism
efforts and efforts to build regional stability in the broader Middle
East.’

Turkey is a key U.S. ally in the region, as evidenced by President
Barack Obama’s stop there earlier this week after his European tour.

But one thorny issue is a perennial attempt by Congress to pass a
resolution condemning the Turks’ killing of 1.5 million Armenians
during the 1915-1916 `genocide.’ The Turkish government has warned
that such a resolution would seriously damage relations. When
Mr. Hastert was speaker, he blocked such a measure after a last-minute
request from then-President Bill Clinton.

Dickstein Shapiro LLP, the Washington, D.C., law firm Mr. Hastert
joined in June 2008 as a senior advisor, has counted Turkey among its
clients since last year. It was not known when he joined the firm
whether Mr. Hastert would lobby for Turkey.

Mr. Hastert and others at Dickstein Shapiro share a $35,000-per-month
subcontract with the Gephardt Group, led by former House Majority
Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., Turkey’s principal lobbyist since last
year, according to The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based publication that
first reported Mr. Hastert’s involvement.

Mr. Hastert did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

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